This invention relates to an air bubble generating apparatus which is used in the bent state in a bathtub filled with hot water to generate air bubbles by supplying compressed air to the apparatus thereby bringing about a massaging effect on the whole body of a subject for beauty or remedial purpose by the action of air bubbles.
As is well-known, it is good for beauty and health to expose the body and limbs of a subject to fine air bubbles in a bathtub filled with hot water. As an example, the apparatus of the type used for this purpose, is constituted by tubes with a plurality of pores integrally disposed on the bottom of the bathtub for generating air bubbles when compressed air is supplied to the tubes, has been developed in the past. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,071)
Among others, there has been proposed a disc-shaped air bubble generating apparatus which comprises an air chamber and an upper panel with a large number of pores which generates air bubbles when compressed air is supplied to the air chamber when it is sunk to the bottom of the bathtub and a subject sits down on the apparatus. (Refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,299,885 and 3,809,073, for example)
These well-known bubbling apparatuses, however, generate air bubbles only from a part on which the subject sits down and have little massaging effect on the upper half of the subject's body, and since the conventional apparatuses are constructed without regard to uniformity of the air bubbles generated from the whole surface of the apparatus, a massaging action is effectively given only to a limited part of the subject's body. Besides, the conventional apparatus has limited durability, because water which has accidentally entered the air chamber of the apparatus through the pores bored in the upper panel thereof, cannot be thoroughly removed from the air chamber. Generally, in the conventional bubbling apparatus, since compressed air is supplied at one end portion of the apparatus, air bubbles cannot be generated uniformly over the whole of the apparatus, thereby reducing effectiveness of the massaging action. Particularly, the former apparatus wherein tubes with a plurality of pores are integrally fixed on the bottom of a bathtub, is inevitably priced high and requires troublesome maintanance. The latter apparatus which is separate from the bathtub suffers the disadvantage that it is awkward to store and has an unwieldy bulk when not in use.